With Deep Respect: PETER DAVI

[hellwoman]

Peter Davi, 45, a Pioneer of Pushing Surfing’s Limits in Big Waves, Dies


By MATT HIGGINS
Published: December 10, 2007
Peter Davi, a renowned big-wave surfer from Monterey, Calif., died Tuesday while riding giant waves at a spot he had helped pioneer off Pebble Beach. He was 45.

The cause was drowning, said Detective Ruben Garcia of the Monterey County Coroner’s Office. He said Davi first sustained head and chest injuries, probably from being dashed against jagged rocks by powerful waves at the surf break, which is known both as Ghost Trees and Pescadero Point.

Fellow surfers lost track of Davi in the water, but later discovered him floating without his surfboard in a kelp bed in Stillwater Cove. The leash that tethered his board to his leg had snapped. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

Davi had joined a group of about 20 surfers at the noted spot near the Pebble Beach Golf Links to ride waves up to 70 feet tall. The waves had been whipped up by a winter storm.

The surfers were using personal watercraft to tow one another into waves that were considered too large and fast-moving for conventional paddling. But witnesses said Davi had nevertheless planned to paddle into a wave and ride it to shore. He was last seen swimming to shore.

In the surfing community around Monterey and Big Sur, Davi was regarded by many as a kind of unofficial mayor. At 6 feet 3 inches and 240 pounds, he sometimes had the duties of maintaining order and safety in the surf. With a combination of intimidating size and charisma, he seldom had to do more than ask people politely to behave.

But Davi was also respected for his courage and his skill in riding big waves. In the early 1990s, he was among a clutch of surfers to ride regularly at a treacherous spot called Mavericks, 100 miles north of Monterey at Half Moon Bay. He gained prominence at big-wave spots on the North Shore of Oahu, including Banzai Pipeline, where respect is hard won from local Hawaiians. And he was among the first to ride at Ghost Trees, where he died.

He is survived by a son, Jake Kai, of Oahu and Monterey; his brother, James; and his sisters, Marijane Flagg, Josefa Davi Nolan, Karen VanBrabant and Michele Davi Payne.

Davi was born in San Francisco on Jan. 5, 1962. He grew up on the Monterey Peninsula, where his life revolved around the sea. He began surfing as a teenager and was a professional surfer until about seven years ago, when he turned to fishing.

A fourth-generation commercial fisherman, he came from a prominent Sicilian-American family in Monterey. In a 2004 article about the tradition of sardine fishing in Monterey Bay, Davi told The Oakland Tribune that he first fished as a teenager while visiting family members in Sicily.

“I love it,” he said about fishing. “I like being at sea.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/sp...tml?ref=sports

[hellwoman]

December 9, 2007

Leo Maxam, The Green Room: Surfers remember a legend: RIP Pete Davi
Sentinel Staff Report

Dark clouds and an icy wind blanketed the beach at Pillar Point as the invitees to this year's Maverick's Surf Contest lined up with their big wave guns for the event's opening ceremonies on Friday. The gloomy weather reflected the mood of the surfers, still grappling with the loss of one of their own just three days earlier.

Peter Davi, legendary Monterey Bay surfer, drowned Tuesday while attempting to paddle into the massive waves breaking off of Pescadero Point in Pebble Beach at the infamous wave known as Ghost Tree. He was 45.

"When the word got out, he was definitely one of the original crew that came up to surf Maverick's," Mav's pioneer Jeff Clark said of Davi. "He was one of those guys that would surf pretty much anywhere."

The somber scene on the beach was reminiscent of another day, also in December, back in 1994 when many of the same big wave surfers gathered on an equally grey, cold, and damp morning at Maverick's to paddle out and honor another fallen waterman, Mark Foo.

Like Foo, Davi was a world-class waterman, respected for his passion to push the big wave envelope at legendary breaks from California to Hawaii. His death sent shock waves through the surfing community in Monterey and Carmel, as well as Santa Cruz and as far away as the North Shore of Oahu, where he had been adopted by many native families and spent a lot of time over the years.

News of the tragedy traveled fast to the islands. Hawaiian surfer Makua Rothman honored Davi after winning the World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach on the same day of Davi's passing.

"Unfortunately, one of my friends never made it today in California," Rothman said in a statement following his come-from-behind victory on the last wave of the final, "and he just sent me that wave. So this is for bruddah Pete Davi. All you guys who don't know, he passed away today. Aloha bruddah, we love you."

Davi and Santa Cruz surfer Anthony Tashnick were the lone paddle surfers out at Ghost Tree on Tuesday. According to witnesses, Davi ran into trouble after his leash snapped and he attempted to swim to shore in the extremely rough waters off Stillwater Cove. The "Big Tuesday" swell will most likely go down as the largest to hit Northern California all year. It generated 30- to 40-foot swells hitting the reef at Ghost Tree, translating to waves with 60- and 70-foot faces.

According to those who were out at the break, the most dangerous aspect of the swell was the consistency of the sets, making for extremely fast-moving currents sweeping towards the rocks and requiring constant paddling of anyone without the aid of a PWC in order to dodge the biggest bombs rolling through.

"It was by far bigger than anything anyone's ever dealt with out there before," said Santa Cruz's Josh Loya who, along with tow partner Ken Collins, was one of about 15-plus tow teams out at Ghost Tree on Tuesday.


"I've known him for 20-something years," Loya said of Davi. "He was just such a cool, friendly guy. It always happens to the nice people."

Loya recalled looking up to Davi as a young surfer visiting the North Shore. He said that Davi wasn't afraid to resort to a little tough love in order to teach a young grom an important lesson about respecting other people's things, especially in Hawaii.

As Loya recalled, one afternoon he and a friend headed out to surf Sunset Beach, cruising out on bikes they had borrowed from the Hawaiian family they were staying with during their trip. When they returned to the house after surfing, they left the bikes lying out front in plain sight without locking them up and received a memorable chiding from Davi.

"He came up to me and gave me a flick on the forehead and just said, 'What are you thinking? Those aren't your bikes.' I was like 17 and looking up at this huge man. I got a little knot in my throat and thought I was going to cry. I never did anything like that again."

To hear folks speak of Davi is to hear them recall an almost mythical figure in the Monterey/Carmel surf scene. A giant of a man, Davi was built like Paul Bunyan. Friends said he was a consummate outdoorsman who loved to hunt and fish and came from a long line of commercial fisherman out of Monterey.

Even those outside the tight-knit brotherhood of big wave surfers recalled fond memories of the legend who often seemed larger than life. Jon Jonsson grew up surfing around Carmel and used to surf with Davi's son Jake. He said Davi's powerful surfing always left an impression in waves of any size.

"I remember when I was a kid being out at Carmel and seeing this big dude surfing on like a 7-foot shortboard. He's just cruising down the line and then all of a sudden he decides to hit the lip and the whole wave was just destroyed. To this day the biggest spray I've ever seen.

"That's how he surfed [big waves] too. No one tore up [big waves] as well as him. Double overhead and just cracking over the reef and he'd be tearing it up, just destroying it."

But Davi was also a gentle giant with a big heart, who often helped kids around Carmel get into the waves, Jonsson said.

"He used to drive a lot of the younger kids in the neighborhood to and from the beach," Jonsson said. "He would take Jake and all his friends out to Carmel and Asilomar before they could drive.

"Pete used to push Jake into waves at Carmel Beach when he was a little kid. I remember Jake talking about his dad once, saying he was the only guy to ever do a legitimate floater at Pipeline. He was definitely proud of his dad."

Contact Leo Maxam at leomaxam@yahoo.com.



http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/story.php?storySection=Sports&sid=51442

[hellwoman]

MONTEREY
'Legendary' surfer perishes in huge waves
Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, December 5, 2007
\
An accomplished local surfer who lived for monster waves died Tuesday at Ghost Trees, a Monterey County surf spot known for its potent swells and dangerous conditions.

Peter Davi, 45, one of the area's most beloved watermen, apparently lost his board and attempted to swim to shore, according to fellow surfers. He was later found floating in the water unconscious and was pronounced dead around 1:30 p.m., the Monterey County coroner's office said.

His death devastated Santa Cruz and Monterey surfers, many of whom had ventured to Ghost Trees on Tuesday in search of big waves.

"Pete was well-loved and well-respected worldwide," said Anthony Ruffo, one of Davi's best friends, who was at the surf spot Tuesday. "People from everywhere are calling. He'll be so missed. He's the diplomat of surfing. He was an anchor and a bridge between Santa Cruz and Monterey surfers."

"He's my friend," Ruffo said, "and I'm going to miss him so much."

Also at Ghost Trees was Tyler Smith, a professional surfer from Santa Cruz who said the wave faces were as big as 60 to 70 feet, "almost as big as we've seen out there."

"It could be the biggest swell we see all season," said Smith, a competitor in the Maverick's contest held in the waters off of Half Moon Bay. "It was really dangerous. It's big, and it breaks right in front of these rocks. It was big, and it was really tall."

At least 15 personal watercraft were circling in the water, Smith said, some carrying surfers and others carrying surf photographers. Big-wave riders often use such watercraft to tow each other into big surf and then snatch each other out of danger after a ride or a fall.

Smith said he believed Davi, who was the size of a football lineman, was paddling into waves and may have run into trouble after the leash tethering him to his board broke.

"It's super-sad, man," Smith said. "He was a gentle giant who surfed for his whole life. Everybody knew him. He was kind of like the godfather."

Davi's friends said that he was a fisherman and that his son Jake, who is also a well-known surfer, was on his way to California late Tuesday from Hawaii.

"I'm just kind of tripped out," said Anthony Tashnick, a Santa Cruz surfer and Maverick's competitor who surfed side-by-side with Davi on Tuesday. "Peter was one of the founders of that area. He's been surfing it for years. He's a legendary local."

Davi's death comes days before the waiting period opens for the big-wave surf contest at Maverick's. Davi was an early participant in the contest.

Chronicle staff writer Julian Guthrie contributed to this report. E-mail Demian Bulwa at dbulwa@sfchronicle.com. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/05/BAABTOFIF.DTL&tsp=1

[hellwoman]

UPDATE: SURFER DIES AT GHOST TREE
Monterey local Peter Davi drowns in giant surf

by Marcus Sanders

Although no one is exactly certain of how Peter Davi died, after talking with numerous people who were at Ghost Tree on Tuesday, December 4th, as well as friends of Davi's, we've managed to piece together a clearer picture of both who Davi was as well as what happened out there.

Davi and Tashnick paddled their ten-foot guns out around 10am from Stillwater Cove. By this point, the lineup had about a dozen tow teams and six PWCs with photographers as well as dozens of people lining the cliff. The swell was inconsistent but somewhere in the 30 to 50 foot range.

They sat on the shoulder and Tashnick successfully paddled into one or two waves, while Davi paddled into a few he couldn't catch. (While Davi and others first paddle-surfed here in the early eighties, as old surf buddy and fellow Monterey local Brent Bispo explained, "there's not much space out there. If you don't make the drop, you're on the rocks, so we ended up exploring some other big-wave spots in the area.")

After an hour and a half, Davi paddled out to the lineup where the tow teams were. "I'm 45 years old and I want to get one of these waves," he told Kelly Sorenson, one of the PWC drivers and Monterey-area surf shop owner.

Santa Cruz surfer Randy Reyes, who was partnered up with Davi's old friend Anthony Ruffo, offered to tow Davi into a couple waves on his gun. Davi successfully rode one, and then when a helicopter showed up on the scene, he said he was over it. (Davi was never a fan of the media circus.) Reyes and Ruffo offered him a ride to shore, but he declined, saying he wanted to catch one more by paddling.

Davi paddled in towards the inside, and here's where things are still muddled. No one is sure whether he tried to catch a wave and wiped out or if he was caught inside. Either way, his leash snapped at the base and he ended up swimming on the inside.

One report is that Davi started swimming towards shore and made it a couple hundred yards through the swirl and the chop and the whitewater to the two giant rock islands outside Stillwater Cove. "Davi knew every inch of this stretch of coast," explained Bispo. "He was 6'2", super strong, and extremely strong-willed." But by the time he got towards the rocks, he was lost to anyone on the cliff who was able to see. (Due to the nature of the swell, the tow teams out the back couldn't have seen him swimming that far in.)

Meanwhile, the lineup was getting more and more packed, and tow teams Osh Bartlett and Peter Garaway and Ruffo and Reyes decided to come in together and head up to a less crowded zone. "We made it to the beach first, then Reyes and Ruffo came jamming back in and said they saw a body," Bartlett said. "Ruffo and I yelled at someone to call 911 and jammed back out into Stillwater Cove."

"Davi was lying face down in a 10'x10' patch of kelp," Bartlett continued. "Ruffo got him and lifted him onto by rescue sled, which we were lucky we had, 'cause he's a big dude. You could see he'd been out there a while, he was white and really stiff. We motored in as fast as we could, and by the time we got to the beach (about 2 minutes) the paramedics were already on their way down the hill. They administered oxygen and sucked the fluid from his lungs, but it was too late."

The official cause of death is drowning, but the coroner also found head trauma.

Davi was a third generation commercial fisherman; his grandfather was a legendary captain from Monterey's Cannery Row glory days who ran 90-foot fishing boats. Davi took on the family career full-time after high school; he'd work on herring boats for a couple months, save a bunch of money and head to the North Shore for the winter, where he spent years cracking into the super-tight Pipe hierarchy.

"We'd squid fish all night in the summers," remembers Bispo. "Then we could surf all day. Pete's whole life was centered on the ocean. He was either surfing, out on a boat or walking around collecting jade; he had a huge jade collection."

By all accounts, Davi was a local's local. "If he liked you, he'd give you the shirt off his back," Bispo continued. "If he didn't, watch out."

Makua Rothman, who won the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing Tuesday at maxing Sunset Beach, said this about his final wave: "Unfortunately, one of my friends never made it today in California, and he just sent me that wave. So this is for bruddah Pete Davi. All you guys who don't know, he passed away today. Aloha bruddah, we love you."

He leaves behind a 17-year-old son.

There will be a memorial service on Saturday 12/8/07 at St Angelina Church in Pacific Grove (Lighthouse and 9th) at 10:00am. Paddle out after memorial service.
-- Marcus Sanders


http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/article.cfm?id=12639

[hellwoman]

Danger always part of big surf
By David Burroughs
Correspondent
Tuesday, December 11, 2007


Rob Varela / Star staff A traffic jam of sorts is created as a surfer rides a 15-foot wave while others paddle out last Wednesday at Rincon, near the Ventura-Santa Barbara County line.

By now every Ventura resident has heard about the huge surf we had last week. With 20-foot face waves breaking against the Seaside Park pier last Wednesday, how could you miss it?
As surfers, we had been prepared for weeks, but little did we know how dangerous a swell it would be.

Dawn patrol Wednesday morning I awoke to the noise of thunderous waves breaking on an Oxnard beach-break just down the street. I knew the swell would be too big for the beach-breaks, but I still had to see what they looked like.

Just after dawn I arrived at Port Hueneme where the swell was significantly smaller. It wasn't perfect, but two surfers were still grabbing an early session just south of the pier.

I drove on to Silver Strand and it wasn't pretty. Waves were cresting over the back jetty producing 30-foot walls of white water. Disorganized peaks were breaking everywhere and this was definitely not the place to be.

Heading north I stopped for a minute at Seaside Park, where tow-in surfers managed 200-yard rides at a point break that didn't look all that manageable.

As I got off Highway 101 at State Beaches, I could see enormous waves breaking at Ventura Overheads. Overheads was the most manageable looking thus far, but talk about a paddle to get out there. It looked like a scene from the North Shore as I drove down Pacific Coast Highway past Emma Wood and Mondos, with hundreds of cars parked and surfers and spectators all with their eyes gazing out to sea. Did anyone work?

My plan was to drive all the way to Sand Spit in Santa Barbara and look at all the spots in between. I didn't make it any farther than Mussel Shoals, aka Little Rincon.

The swell was hitting at 12 to 15 feet here and better organized, but still not perfect. I staked a spot next to some Ventura residents and photographer Kelly Combs.

"I just got back from Rincon and the swell looks cleaner here," said Combs.

There were plenty of great waves and then an occasional 18-foot rogue set would come through and clean everybody up. It is one of the reasons this swell was deceiving and deadly.

As I watched surfers and their boards getting dragged across the rocks in their botched attempts to paddle-out, I pondered the dangers of not knowing your own limitations. Not knowing your own limitations may be one of the reasons why Peter Davi did not survive this swell at Ghost Trees in Northern California.

The waves at Ghost Trees that morning were reportedly the biggest any of the locals had ever seen.

Sometime in the mid-morning, Davi, who was paddling into waves, broke his leash and began swimming in. According to one of the tow teams, they offered Davi a ride in but the surfer refused.

Another tow team offered Davi a PFD, but again Davi refused, according to Don Curry, a Ghost Tree local.

Sometime later, Santa Cruz surfers Anthony Ruffo and Osh Bartlett saw Davi's body floating in a kelp patch. They quickly got rid of their surfboards and picked the body up, according to Bartlett. Only then did they realize it was their good friend.

"By the time we got to him he was white as ghost," explained Bartlett. "It was obvious that it was too late. I'm guessing he was floating for 30 minutes or so."

Medical aid was performed, but Davi was pronounced dead at 1:28 p.m., the office reported.

Forty-five-year-old Davi was a third-generation commercial fisherman. His grandfather was a legendary captain who ran 90-foot fishing boats. Davi took on the family career full time after high school. He'd work on boats for a couple months, save a bunch of money and head to the North Shore for the winter, where he spent years attaining status in the super-tight Pipe hierarchy. Davi will definitely be missed in the small community of big-wave surfing.

Although Ventura did not have the 70-foot face waves which broke at Ghost Trees, the swell was just as dangerous. Ventura County lifeguards reported dozens of rescues on surfers who are typically strong swimmers. Strong currents and riptides put surfers right in the impact zone and clean-up sets made things interesting for everyone in the water.

Big Wednesday will be remembered by many as a day for challenging yourself, but for many others it was a hard lesson of learning your own limitation. Remember to always check the warnings and study your surf break before paddling out.

— If you have any information regarding the local surfing scene, e-mail David Burroughs at runemason@yahoo.com. The Surfing Scene appears Tuesdays in The Star.



http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/dec/11/danger-always-part-of-big-surf/



http://towsurfingjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1217#post1217

[hellwoman]

Surfer killed by swells near Monterey
Emergency officials in Santa Cruz keep an eye out on those who want to brave the huge waves caused by storm system
By Jennifer Squires and J.M. Brown
MEDIANEWS STAFF

Article Launched: 12/05/2007 03:04:05 AM PST


SANTA CRUZ -- Ferociously high surf charged by storms in the Pacific Northwest exhausted surfers and rescuers as 20-foot swells crashed off the misty Monterey Bay coastline Tuesday, killing a surfer near Pebble Beach and forcing dozens of others from the water.
While the high surf drew daredevils and experts to the waves -- and big crowds to watch -- the spectacle also brought State Parks lifeguards, the city's marine rescue crew, firefighters and paramedics to West Cliff Drive on Tuesday.

Nine lifeguards and firefighters on the lookout for surfers in distress watched from the cliff and in the water during high tide at 2 p.m. The National Weather Service planned to call off its high-surf warning at 4 a.m. today, predicting swells of up to 25 feet overnight from Point Arena to Point Pigeon and up to 20 feet for points south.

"We're doing a pre-emptive thing," Santa Cruz fire Battalion Chief Matt McCaslin said as he manned two radios and two phones from his command vehicle parked at the south end of Mitchell's Cove. "It doesn't happen that often that we get a big winter storm and a decent day."

Lifeguards on personal watercraft towed four troubled surfers through the breaker to the beach at Mitchell's. Another surfer at Cowell Beach needed help after a wave crashed him into the wharf, splintered his board and spat him onto the beach. Harbor Patrol also rescued a surfer about 8 a.m. near Capitola who was described as "prehypothermic."

Monterey County authorities


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found a big-wave surfer face down in the water off Ghost Trees, a popular surf spot near Pebble Beach. Peter Davi, 45, of Monterey lost his surfboard and was attempting to swim to shore but was knocked unconscious and was pronounced dead about 1:30 p.m.
Monterey County sheriff's Sgt. Dennis English said that a department search and rescue team responded to a report of a surfer in distress, but that Davi was dead by the time the team got to Pebble Beach.

"It's just extremely high surf. Waves are crashing against the rocks, kind of dangerous," he said. "It's primo conditions for surfers."

Davi's death comes three days before the waiting period opens for the Mavericks big-wave surf contest at Half Moon Bay, where waves rolled in Tuesday at 20-foot heights and larger. According to the official Mavericks Web site, http://www.maverickssurf.com, Davi was one of the early pack of surfers to test themselves at Mavericks after word got around about its massive waves.

Santa Cruz Port Director Brian Foss said the high surf was the biggest he remembered in the past several years. He said waves up to 3 feet high rolled through the harbor and rose to 14 feet near the wharf.

Surfer Laura Williams of Santa Cruz stood on the bluff near Cowell Beach, watching several surfers temporarily get backed into a cove by strong currents. She said she could tell they were inexperienced based on their novice paddling.

"The current pushes people into the rocks," she said. "They shouldn't be out here."

Up north, a commercial crab fishing boat went missing near Pillar Point Harbor on Tuesday afternoon. Good Guys, a 25-foot vessel with two aboard, was returning to the harbor from crabbing along with a second boat, Majek, shortly after 1 p.m. The two boats were in contact with each other, but the Majek lost contact with the other boat. About 1:30 p.m., an electronic locator beacon from the missing boat was detected south of Pillar Point, but there had been no sign of the boat itself Tuesday evening.

Two Coast Guard helicopters equipped with night-vision goggles and two vessels were dispatched to search for the fishing boat.

The Good Guys is reportedly owned by Ben Hannaberg, said to be a contractor who has operated out of Pillar Point for about five years.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.



http://www.contracostatimes.com/sports/ci_7639868?nclick_check=1